Darkness
by TheDarknessIncarnate
Summary: Ichigo died during the Grand Fisher attack. As a result he now lives with Masaki, his mother. His dream is to become a Shinigami, and to be able to protect anyone. So, he decides to go to the Shinigami Academy. With his friend Toshiro, he will face many trials along the way. He will do anything he can do make his dream a reality...
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hello Everybody! What you are reading is my first Bleach fanfic. It is called "Darkness", and takes place in an AU. As you have probably gained from the summary, this story will involve Ichigo going to the Shinigami Academy. Here, he will learn all of the skills needed to become a Shinigami, but some strange things will happen. What things you ask? Well, continue reading!**

**NOTE: In this story, Ichigo died during the Hollow Attack during his childhood. He died alongside Masaki, and now lives with her in Soul Society. Also, in this story, 1 human year = 10 years in Soul Society. If there is an official time difference, could someone please let me know so I can change it.**

****Usually, people would ask for nice reviews, but I am happy to get bad reviews too. Negative reviews will help me improve and make my writing better. So, thanks for clicking on this story, and please enjoy!****

* * *

"Come on Ichigo! Hurry up! You're going to be late!" Masaki called up the stairs.

As usual, Ichigo was running late. Today however, he couldn't afford to be late. Today was the day that Ichigo was going to join the Shinigami Academy. Getting accepted into the academy was a relatively easy task, considering the fact that Ichigo possessed an extremely large amount of reiatsu for his age. At the age of 160, Ichigo had reiatsu at the same level of some of the weaker seated officers. The only problem was that he had near enough no control over it. That, alongside the fact that he wanted to become a Shinigami, were the reasons for Ichigo wanting to go to the Academy.

"I know! I'm coming!" came the reply. At the top of the stairs stood Ichigo. Wearing the standard Academy uniform with a customisation, his eyes shone with enthusiasm. The only change to the uniform was a pitch black stripe going down the right shoulder, continuing until it reached the small of his back.

"Okay Mum, see ya!" Ichigo yelled as he charged through the door, leaving a small cloud of dust in his wake. Sighing, Masaki stared at the now broken door.

"Really Ichigo? Oh well..." she said, staring at the direction that Ichigo went towards.

* * *

Arriving at the gates of the Academy, an out of breath Ichigo witnessed one of the most weirdest things he had ever seen in his life. A small kid with long, pointy white hair was being carried upside down towards the front door. Upon seeing this, Ichigo had to suppress his laughter.

"Put me down this instant, you moron!" the boy yelled at this companion. The woman carrying the boy, had long strawberry long hair, and some rather large... 'assets'.

"It's too late now Toshiro, you're here, now stop complaining!" the woman yelled.

"Grrr, I hate you so much Rangiku..." the boy, know known as Toshiro, trailed off.

"Aww, thanks. Now have fun!" Rangiku said cheerfully, completely ignoring the small boy's comment.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Ichigo walked over to Toshiro and introduced himself.

"Hey, the name's Ichigo. How are you doing kid?"

"Hey, I'm not a kid!" Toshiro replied angrily.

"Well, you kinda look like one..." Ichigo said sheepishly.

"Grrr..." was the only response Ichigo was given.

"Hahaha, sorry...Toshiro? That was it, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it is."

"Well, it was nice meeting you." Ichigo said politely, before walking through the front door.

"Yeah, you too!" Toshiro called after him. Dismissing it with a wave of his hand, Ichigo walked through the door, out of sight.

* * *

Walking through the doors, Ichigo walked into the assembly hall. In the room, there was easily a few hundred people. All of them wanting to succeed, and wanting to become a Shinigami. Suddenly, someone who Ichigo assumed was the teacher walked to the front of the room.

"Welcome to Shinigami Academy!" he yelled, over the general chatter of the room. With that, it the room went absolutely silent.

"Today, you are gathered here to become Shinigami! You are here to defend Soul Society, and to defend the Human World from Hollows!"

At this stage, Ichigo was starting to stop paying attention. He zoned out, until he heard the teacher say.

"As you leave the room, you will all be given an Asauchi. Please keep this sword with you at all times, as it will become your partner for the majority of your stay at the Academy!"

With the opening speech over, the pupils started filing out of the hall, collecting their Asauchi on the way. As Ichigo got to the door, the man giving out the Asauchi said to him.

"You've got potential kid. I can see that already."

Thanking him, Ichigo took the Asauchi, and walked out of the door. Heading in the direction of the room he had been assigned, Ichigo thought to himself.

"Who will I be sharing a room with? I hope it's someone who I can get along with..."

Ichigo's musing was interrupted by a rather unexpected surprise. The door. He had walked face first into it, and was now sporting a very red nose.

"Gah! Damn it!"he yelled out in pain. Suddenly, a burst of laughter emanated from the room.

"Okay smart guy! Don't even start! Why the hell do I have to put up with someone who... Toshiro?!" yelled Ichigo as he burst into the room.

"Ah, Ichigo!" Toshiro said in surprise, "I assume that you're sharing rooms with me?"

"Looks like it..." Ichigo replied, slightly happy that he was sharing a room with someone he knew... sort of.

Dumping his Asauchi onto the bed, Ichigo sat down on the floor next the Toshiro.

"So" Ichigo said, "It looks like we're sharing rooms. We might as well start getting used to each other."

"Okay then." Toshiro replied.

"But first" Ichigo continued, "Why the hell is it so cold in here!?"

* * *

**A/N: And there you go! The first chapter of "Darkness". I hope that you have all enjoyed the prologue! I know that this chapter is fairly small, but I rushed to get the prologue out of the way.**

**I don't have a set schedule for when I am going to be releasing chapters, but they will probably just be released when I finish them. As I have said, I would really appreciate reviews, good or bad. I will not be answering reviews through PM, but I will answer any reviews that I get at the start of each chapter, during the A/N.**

**I don't really expect anyone to do this, but if anyone feels like making a cover for this story, I will be extremely grateful!**

**That's all I've got to say, so thank you for reading!**

**Please review! If you feel like it, please consider following, or even leaving a favourite!**

**Thanks again, **

**DarknessIncarnate, signing off.**


	2. Communicating and Suppressing

**A/N: Hello everyone! Welcome to the second chapter of Darkness! Here are the review replies:**

**Guest (1): Thank you! I'll be sure to keep at it! **

**purpleswans: Thank you!**

**TitansLegion: Thank you, I'll try my best...**

**hornet07: Thanks for your review! I have made an edit to the first chapter. I had originally written "seated", but I changed my mind because I didn't want to make Ichigo seem ridiculously OP at such an early stage. I've changed it back to "seated" now, so thank you for pointing out. As for the Orihime/Chad thing, I'm still not too sure if they'll even feature in this story, mainly due to Ichigo's absence. Thank you for your review, and I'll be sure to keep what you said in mind.**

**So, that's all from me at the moment. So, without further ado, let's get on with the chapter!**

* * *

_"But first" Ichigo said, "Why the hell is it so cold in here?!"_

"Erm, well..." Toshiro trailed off slowly.

"What? Ichigo replied impatiently.

"That may be me..." Toshiro said sheepishly.

"Wait, what?"

"It's my reiatsu," Toshiro explained, "I can't control it..."

"Okay," Ichigo said, "But why is it so cold?"

"I don't know..."

Dismissing it with a quick nod, Ichigo settled down and started talking to Toshiro about his life. Both boys were enjoying each other's company, and continued talking until they were called for their first class. Communicating with Zanpakuto.

* * *

Ichigo and Toshiro were walking to their class, when they heard some raised voices coming from one of the rooms.

"I know. He has absolutely monstrous amounts of reiatsu. Even at his age!"

"And that's why we're going to give him extra training!"

Ignoring the arguing, both boys walked along the hall, and into the classroom. Settling down at their designated mats, the teacher starting instructing the class on how to communicate with then Zanpakuto.

"You need to be at peace. On the outside, and inside. You must stay calm. When you are feeling calm, imagine yourself talking to your Zanpakuto. Imagine it talking back to you. That's all there is to it. Whilst I highly doubt anyone will manage to communicate with their Zanpakuto Spirit at this early stage, I imagine that quite a few of you will be able to communicate with your spirit at some point during your stay at the academy."

With that he left the class, leaving them to make an attempt at communicating with their Zanpakuto.

* * *

A few hours pass, and Ichigo gets up from the floor. Groaning, he looked over to see Toshiro and the rest of the class doing the same. Nodding towards him, Ichigo walked back out of the door towards his room. He didn't have any other classes in the morning.

"I might as well get some sleep." Ichigo said aloud...

"No, I don't think you will Mr Kurosaki," a voice said behind him, "Follow me please."

Groaning, Ichigo turned round to see the Headteacher of the Academy.

"Right, sure thing..." Ichigo trailed off when he saw the expression on the Headteacher's face. Confusion. The Headteacher turned round, and walked in the direction of his office quickly with Ichigo in tow.

* * *

Sitting down at the desk, Ichigo saw a small nameplate. With a sigh, the Headteacher looked at Ichigo, and said.

"Okay Mr Kurosaki. I'm not one for formalities, so is it okay if I call you Ichigo?"

"Yeah, that's fine by me..." Ichigo trailed off, not knowing how to address his Headteacher.

"Gurōrī" he said.

"Gurōrī," Ichigo replied in acknowledgement, "What is it you wanted to see me for?"

"Yes, of course. I wish to speak to you about your reiatsu levels..."

"Okay then..."

"Why on earth are your levels so high? You have the reiatsu of a low level seated officer..." Gurōrī said.

"I don't know..." Ichigo replied honestly.

"Well, I have scheduled extra reiatsu control classes for you, as you obviously are having problems keeping it under control."

"Okay..." Ichigo said in a resigned tone.

"You'll be glad to know that your first lessons starts in 15 minutes. It'll be on Training Field 3. Thank you Ichigo, you can leave now."

Following Gurōrī's advice, Ichigo got up from his seat and left the room, shutting the door quietly.

"Ah, damn it!" Ichigo muttered under his breath. The last thing he wanted was extra lessons. Sure, he wanted to become a Shinigami, but surely his reiastu control wasn't that bad that he needed extra lessons? Oh well...

* * *

_**15 minutes later...**_

"Hello! You must be Ichigo Kurosaki! I'm going to be helping you get your reiatsu under control. As it is, it's extremely wild, and you seem to have absolutely no control over it..." the teacher said to Ichigo as he walked towards the training field.

"Yeah, I'm Ichigo. Is my control really that bad?"

"I'm afraid so Ichigo."

"Gah, this is going to be troublesome." Ichigo replied unhappily.

"If we don't get it under control, it'll be troublesome!" the teacher replied, chuckling slightly.

"Okay then, where do I start?" Ichigo replied, somewhat confused as to how he was going to rein in his reiatsu.

"Well, first of all, we need to suppress your reiastu. At present, it's at the level of a weak seated officer."

"Okay, how do I do that?" Ichigo replied, still slightly confused.

"Well, I'm going to teach you a technique that I found useful. While it's not the usual method for suppressing your reiatsu, I found it helped at lot more when I was younger." the teacher explained, "Basically, I want you to imagine that your reiatsu is a river or a lake, and that your body is a dam."

"Okay..." Ichigo said, nodding in understanding.

"Then, imagine that your reiatsu is flowing into the dam, and that the dam is stopping your reiatsu from leaking out." This may take a while for you to do, but as soon as your reiatsu stops leaking out of your body, I'll place a mark on your top of your hand. The mark will basically act like a plug. It'll stop your reiatsu from leaking again."

"That makes sense..." Ichigo said, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"This may take some amount of time Ichigo, so don't get frustrated if it doesn't work for the first time."

"Okay, let's get started then." Ichigo replied smirking.

* * *

**_2 hours _**

"You're nearly there Ichigo!" the teacher said.

Ichigo didn't reply, due to the fact that he was concentrating so much. If anyone was to see him, they'd think that Ichigo was a completely different person. His usual attitude was gone, replaced with complete concentration.

"Ichigo! You can stop now!" the teacher said again. Gaining no reply, the teacher yelled in Ichigo's ear.

"KUROSAKI! STOP NOW!"

Jumping slightly, Ichigo hopped do his feet.

"Did I do it?" he asked sheepishly, dragging his hands through his hair.

"Yes! You done a great job!" the teacher replied.

"Phew..." Ichigo sighed.

"I think we're gonna call it quits here Ichigo," the teacher said with a small sigh, "When you come tomorrow back tomorrow, we'll start working on actually controlling your reiatsu."

"Control it?" Ichigo replied, confused, "I thought I already had controlled it?"

"Yes, controlling it. If used in the correct way, reiatsu can be used to instill fear into people, and in some extreme cases, it can be used to cause pain."

"It sounds rather difficult..." Ichigo trailed off.

"Surprisingly enough, it's harder to do when you have low reiatsu. I also forgot to mention that some people, though it is quite rare, use reiatsu to fuel some of their attacks."

"Okay, that sounds pretty fun..." Ichigo replied.

"Hahaha, you're an enthusiastic one, aren't you?" the teacher replied, "In theory, because you will be practising with low amounts of reiatsu, low by your standards anyway, if you use your reiatsu when you don't have your limiter on, it should be a lot more effective because you will already become accustomed to using your reiatsu."

"Okay... That sounds like it is going to be difficult, but I'll give it a shot anyway."

"Oh, before you leave. If you want to remove the affects of your limiter, just say "Kai!"."

"Okay, thank you." Ichigo said politely, nodding his head.

"I'll see you tomorrow Ichigo. Goodbye." the teacher said smiling, watching as Ichigo walked out of the training field. Shaking his head, the teacher thought to himself.

"He's gonna go far... It took my nearly a week to do that task, but he does it in 2 hours... He's gonna be a great Shinigami."

* * *

As soon as Ichigo exited the training field, he quietly said "Kai" under his breath. Suddenly, he felt so much more... loose. He felt more comfortable, but he didn't know why.

"It's probably my reiatsu building up inside me..." Ichigo mused to himself. He continued to walk towards his room, half expecting to see Toshiro waiting for him. Arriving at his door, he quietly entered, and seeing nobody inside, let out a small sigh.

Setting his alarm to wake him at lunch, Ichigo lied down on his bed, and closed his eyes...

* * *

**A/N: And that's us reached the end of another chapter. I know that I am releasing these when I am finishing them, but this means that there isn't a specific schedule for when I'll be releasing chapters. **

**I kind of made up a way for suppressing reiatsu, as people like Kenpachi use a physical item to keep their levels at bay. I thought that if Ichigo was to bring his own levels down on his own, it would unconsciously give him better control. The seal I had the teacher give Ichigo isn't really a limiter as such, more of a control switch. If Ichigo has the limiter activated, it will keep his reiatsu from leaking out of him. If he doesn't have it activated, it's fairly obvious what will happen.**

**Okay, that's all from me now. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you guys later.**

**Remember to follow and favourite this story, and please leave a review. It gives me motivation to write, and to help me improve!**

**TheDarknessIncarnate, signing off. **


	3. Flash a-ah!

**A/N: Hello everyone, and here's the 3rd chapter! Here's the review replies:**

**TitansLegion: Thank you. I actually had a reason for writing "the teacher" constantly. All will be revealed soon...**

**KageAkuma5020: He hasn't actually started learning how to control his reiatsu yet, he's merely learned how to suppress it. I was actually planning on Ichigo acting a bit like a teacher-figure to Toshiro. Great minds think alike! :P As for Ichigo's personality, I want him to act slightly more mature than in the Anime. Your comment about the speed of Ichigo learning stuff is correct, but I have a reason for that too. I want him to be a bit like a prodigy, like what Toshiro will eventually become. Thanks for your review, it's definitely helped me. :)**

**DaedricDragon: Thank you.**

**LeroyallenXnaruto: Thank you, and I'll try my best.**

**purpleswans: Eventually, I want Ichigo's reiatsu to be of a level that is a lot higher than Toshiro's. I'm not too sure whether Kusaka will feature in this fanfic. I might introduce him at some point, but the main focus of this story will be on Ichigo.**

**KuroYuki 34: Will Ichigo become a Captain? That's a good question, and it's one that'll be answered as we get further on. It will take a fair amount of time for Ichigo to talk to Zangetsu, but not ages. Ichigo doesn't actually have Zangetsu yet, he's wielding an Asauchi, a nameless sword. Thanks for your review!**

**Thanks for everyone's reviews, and without further ado, let's get on with the chapter!**

**Also, I'm going to start doing a little thing here in the A/N. I'm going to post the song that I listened to whilst I was writing this chapter. Hopefully, this will give some of you an insight on what sort of music I like, and if the song itself influenced anything in the chapter. **

**The song for this chapter is: Sugar High, by Approaching Nirvana. **

** This chapter was beta'd by my good friend, Haha_Titan. Thanks to him! **

* * *

_Setting his alarm to wake him at lunch, Ichigo lied down on his bed, and closed his eyes..._

**BANG! **

Ichigo jumped awake, panting heavily as an upset-looking Toshiro burst through the door. Rubbing his eyes, Ichigo took in Toshiro's appearance. His long, pointy hair was dropping slightly, and it looked slightly damp. His eyes were bloodshot, and he had a large cut along his forehead. In other words, he looked a mess.

"Yo, what's up Toshiro?" Ichigo asked, confused as to why Toshiro was in such a state.

"Leave me alone Kurosaki." Toshiro said coldly. **  
**

"Toshiro, do you really expect me to leave you when you're upset?" Ichigo asked in bewilderment.

"Yes. Leave me alone." Toshiro said stubbornly.

Sighing, Ichigo got up and pulled Toshiro into the middle of the room. Dragging him with him, Ichigo sat down on the floor, with Toshiro in tow.

"Okay, tell me from the beginning. What happened?"

"Why do you care Kurosaki?" Toshiro questioned him coldly.

"You're my friend. If I can't help a friend in need, then I can't be that much of a friend." Ichigo replied honestly.

"Fine, I'll tell you." Toshiro said, somewhat reluctantly.

Lying down so that he was on his back, Ichigo said.

"Let's hear it then.

"Well, I was in my Kido class, and the teacher hadn't arrived yet. Suddenly, a tall guy, I think he was called Shinryaku, came up to me and started to question me on my hair. He was asking me why I was bleaching it, and that I looked like a freak." Toshiro explained.

"Right...?" Ichigo trailed off.

"At this point, the teacher came in and started the lesson. Everything was fine, until the lesson ended. Shinryaku was waiting for me outside of the class, and he hit me with the Bakudo we had learned. It was Bakudo 1: Sai. I fell, and cut my head on a rock. I was there for a few minutes, until the teacher found me and broke the spell." Toshiro said.

"Well, Shinryaku was it? I'm going to keep that in mind..." Ichigo said, somewhat menacingly.

"Ichigo, don't do anything stupid..." Toshiro said quietly.

"I won't...yet." Ichigo replied.

"Thanks Ichigo."

"No problem Toshiro." Ichigo said kindly.

Then, the bell rang.

* * *

Both Ichigo and Toshiro were in the same class next. Shunpo training.

"Hopefully I'll be good at this" Ichigo thought aloud.

"Huh? How come?" Toshiro said, confused.

"Well, I need to be good at something." Ichigo said sadly, "I've not made any progress with my Zanpakuto, and my reiatsu control is awful."

"Mine's not any better." Toshiro pointed out.

"Well..." Ichigo trailed off..

"Whoops, here's the teacher." Toshiro cut him off.

"Hello class! My name is Supīdo, and I am going to be your Shunpo teacher!" Supīdo yelled out to the assembled class. "First, who knows what Shunpo actually is?"

Nobody raised their hand.

"Gah, okay. Shunpo is basically what Shinigami refer to as 'Flash Step'. A Flash Step is basically when someone focuses an amount of reaitsu that is just enough to propel themselves forward. It sounds rather simple, but it's all about finding what is the correct amount of reiatsu for you. The amount differs from person to person, but after you find what is right for you, it's rather simple to do."

After saying this, Supīdo vanished in burst of speed and appeared in front of Ichigo.

"You! Young man! What is your name?" he said enthusiastically.

"Ichigo Kurosaki" Ichigo said with a confident smirk on his face.

"Well, Ichigo, because you look so confident, you'll be the first one to try it." Supīdo said, also smirking.

Shrugging, Ichigo started to utilise the very little amount of control he had over his reiatsu.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hold on! Only use a small amount of reiatsu. You have quite a large amount, so if you use too much, you may end up on the other side of the school!" Supīdo said, chuckling to himself.

Nodding, Ichigo forced a small amount of reiatsu into his feet and, suddenly, he felt a small burst of wind in his face. Looking behind him, he could see Supīdo grinning happily at him. Looking at the distance between him and Supīdo, Ichigo calculated that he had covered a quite a distance. Maybe 5 or 6 metres at most? Ichigo started to grin too. He actually had a chance at doing something well.

Ichigo gathered his reiatsu into his feet again, and felt himself get propelled forward, coming to a stop before Supīdo.

"And that's a fine example of Shunpo!" Supīdo said, clapping for Ichigo. The rest of the class followed suit, and Ichigo looked over to see Toshiro smiling happily at him. Nodding towards Toshiro, Ichigo looked at Supīdo for further instructions.

"Ichigo, just continue to practice using Shunpo, and if you feel like it, try to increase the distance that you travel. The rest of the class, follow Ichigo's lead and try to use Shunpo to the best of your abilities. We will gather again in one hour." Supīdo said.

* * *

**_1 hour passed..._**

The class had gathered back in front of Supīdo, with the vast majority of the class successfully using Shunpo, but at various levels. A few hadn't managed, but were on the brink of succeeding.

"Okay! Now, we are going to play a rather simple game. Tag. You can use anything you have learned to try and be the last person standing!" Supīdo said, "GO!"

And with that, the class scattered. Some moving faster than others. Supīdo quickly Shunpo'd over to one of the decent students, and tagged him. With that, the game started.

Quickly, the slower of the pupils were picked off, and tried to catch some of the other students. Unfortunately for them, the remaining pupils were rather fast, so it was up to the decent pupils to catch the remainder of the class. After a while, Toshiro was caught, and immediately set his sights on Ichigo. Both boys were darting around the clearing at decent speeds, but Ichigo was always slightly ahead of Toshiro. Unknown to the both of them, the rest of the class had all stopped, and were looking at them in shock. Both boys were moving at really high speeds, sometimes reaching over 10 metres per step. Supīdo grinned to himself, watching both Ichigo and Toshiro.

"Looks like I have some talent in my class..." he thought to himself happily, "Okay boys, you can stop now."

Gaining no reply for either boy, Supīdo yelled "BOYS! STOP!".

Ichigo stopped suddenly, and Toshiro barrelled into the back of Ichigo, with a large "WHAM!". Groaning in pain, both boys got up from the floor. Popping bones and rubbing bruises.

"That was absolutely great!" Supīdo yelled enthusiastically, "I really look forward to seeing how far the pair of you advance!".

Grinning sheepishly, both boys made their way over to Supīdo. The class burst into applause when the boys rejoined them, some looking at them with admiration, a few with disappointment.

"Well, that's class over! You can all leave, but I want a word with Ichigo and Toshiro. See you all soon class!" Supīdo said.

With that, the class started to leave the training area, with Ichigo and Toshiro lingering around with Supīdo.

"Okay boys, you're not in trouble. I just want to give you an offer. There's someone I want the pair of you to meet. I think that you'll benefit from meeting her." Supīdo said to Ichigo and Toshiro.

"How exactly will we benefit from meeting this person?" Toshiro asked curiously.

"Well, she's easily one, if not the best at Shunpo. I personally believe that you both have the skills to become close, maybe even on to her level." Supīdo replied.

"I'm perfectly happy to meet her, but won't this affect our training with you?" Ichigo said, slightly wary.

"I will be talking to the Headmaster about this anyway, and I'm sure that he will be willing to give you the chance to get even better teaching than what I can give you." Supīdo replied.

"If you're sure, then I'm happy too." Toshiro said.

"Great! I'll talk to the Headmaster, and I'll let you boys know the arrangements the next time you come to class!"

"Okay, thank you sir." both boys said politely.

"Please, no formalities. They make me feel old." Supīdo said chuckling.

"Okay, thank you." Ichigo said again, making sure to avoid the formalities.

"No problems, I'll talk to you two soon."

Taking the hint that they were dismissed, both boys Shunpo'd away.

Turning around, Supīdo called out.

"See them? That's who I'm going to introduce to you."

"Hmm... They both have a lot of potential..." the woman mused to herself.

"I agree." Supīdo said firmly.

"Okay, I'm happy. I'll meet both of them."

"Okay. I'm sure they'll look forward to it..." Supīdo said...

"I'm sure they will..." the woman said.

"I mean, who's going to reject lessons from you?"

"Nobody in their right mind." the woman said teasingly.

"I agree Yoruichi, I agree..."

* * *

**A/N: And there we go! Yoruichi is officially in the story. I know that a few of you are going to say "But she's been exiled!", but in this story, she wasn't involved with Uruhara. She's been kicked out of her clan, but she now lives on her own in Soul Society. Uruhara still works in his shop, and gives out supplies to the Soul Reapers stationed in Karakura Town. **

**I hope that everything made sense with the Shunpo training etc, because from what I can remember, there isn't a defined way in which Shunpo actually works. If you can give me information on that, please let me know.**

**Also, this is the longest chapter yet, at just over 2000 words. I'm gradually increasing the size of the chapters! :)**

**So, that's all from me! Please leave a review, favourite and please follow the story!**

**TheDarknessIncarnate, signing off.**


	4. Retaliation

**A/N: Hello, and welcome back everyone! I'm sorry about the small cliffhanger I gave the lot of you last chapter, but I felt that it was a perfect point in which I could cut off. So, deal with it! :P **

**Here's the review replies:**

**hornet07: To answer the comment about Ichigo being sent over to the other side of the school. I said that because he would have been sent over to the other side of the school accidentally, and possibly injuring himself in the process. Sorry for the confusion there. I am planning on making Toshiro seem a lot less OOC, but a certain event hasn't happened in the fanfic yet. After that event, you'll see a more in-character Toshiro. The puns, I added in as a trial. I wasn't too happy with them myself, so I've went back and edited those parts outs. Yet again, I apologise. As for the descriptions, I didn't feel that describing the Shunpo scene would benefit it, and would make it seem like I was dragging it out. I'll try to keep in mind to add more descriptions though. I'm glad you like the idea of Yoruichi being added in. You'll be seeing more of her pretty soon ;)**

**purpleswans: I'm going to be introducing Isshin at some point down the line, but I'm not too sure when :/**

**Daedricdragon: Thanks, but I wasn't too pleased with last chapter. **

**KageAkuma5020: I can only say so much without giving some of my plot away, but yes. Toshiro will be better at Ichigo at a few things. As for the Zanpakuto thing, just wait and see ;)**

**LeroyallenXnaruto: As I've said in my reply to Daedricdragon, I wasn't too pleased with my last chapter. I'm definitely going to give Ichigo his Hollow powers, but I still need to think if I can incorporate Ichigo's Quincy powers... Ichigo is 160 years old (which I find fairly young for a Soul Reaper), and Toshiro is a few years younger.**

**Yet again, this chapter was beta'd by my friend Haha_Titan. I'd be useless without him! xD**

**The song for this chapter is: So Far Gone, by Joan Red.**

**So, let's get on with the show!**

* * *

_"I agree Yoruichi, I agree..."_**  
**

Unknown to both boys, this conversation had just ended. Due to the fact that neither of the boys had another class for the rest of the day, they both decided to do different activities. Toshiro decided to spend time trying to communicate with his Zanpakuto, and Ichigo decided to use his recently acquired Shunpo skills to explore around the school grounds.

Stopping at the path near the school's main hall, Ichigo looked at his surroundings. The lush, green trees cast a long, dark shadow across the grounds, and the building itself was a sight to behold. Large dragons spiralled up the pillars beside the main door, and cherry blossom decorated the walls of the building. Above the door, was the school insignia. It was a large, orange sun, with a crescent moon covering up part of the right side. At the top of the insignia, was a small, 5-pointed star. Going from the bottom of the insignia, was the outline of the Senzaikyū. With the sun in the background, it looked like it was bathed in an everlasting glow.

Sighing, Ichigo prepared to travel back to his room, but he felt something bump into his leg. Looking down, it was a small jet-black cat. Staring at it in confusion, Ichigo thought to himself.

"Where'd you come from?"

The cat let out a small 'mew'. Taking sympathy on the poor animal, Ichigo picked it up, and held it in his arms. Feeling the familiar sign of reiatsu going to his feet, Ichigo flashed out of sight, leaving a small trail of dust behind him.

* * *

Arriving at the door to his room, Ichigo looked down to see the cat looking at him curiously. Suddenly, the cat started scrambling, leaving small scratches down Ichigo's arms. Putting it down carefully, the cat stretched, and started clawing at the door. Giving a small sigh of frustration, Ichigo opened the door for the cat to enter the room. Mentally bracing himself for Toshiro to start ranting at him for letting an animal into their room, Ichigo walked through the door. The cat had quickly claimed Toshiro as a pillow.

"Ichigo." Toshiro said stiffly.

"Yes?" Ichigo said, trying not to laugh.

"GET THIS ACCURSED CREATURE OFF OF ME!"

With this, Ichigo burst out laughing. The look of horror on Toshiro's face was a sight that Ichigo wouldn't forget for a long time. Whilst Toshiro was dealing with his... 'predicament', Ichigo took the time to study their room properly.

The light cream walls gave off a sense of calm, and gave the room a peaceful atmosphere. There was two beds on the adjacent walls, both looking like they had been hastily made. Next to each of the beds, was a small, wooden dresser, where both boys kept their uniform and public clothes. There was a full length mirror hanging from a hook on the inside of the door. Hanging from the end of each of the beds, was a sheath were they kept their Asuachi when they weren't being used.

Turning around again, Ichigo looked at Toshiro. Toshiro had apparently given up fighting with the cat, and it had taken residence on Toshiro's lap.

"Ichigo!" Toshiro hissed quietly.

"Having fun?" Ichigo said teasingly.

"It's sleeping on me! Sleeping!"

Chuckling to himself, Ichigo sat down next to Toshiro and started to stroke the cat. Waking up, the cat saw Ichigo stroking it, and rubbed it's head against Ichigo's hand in an affectionate manner.

"Hey there little guy..."

_Hiss..._

"Girl." Ichigo corrected himself quickly in fear of being attacked. Happy, the cat stood up, stretching, and moved over to sit on Ichigo. Smiling to himself, Ichigo continued to stroke the cat absent-mindedly.

"Toshiro, we need to get a cat flap!" Ichigo said with a determined look on his face. Ichigo looked over to see Toshiro, who simply slapped himself on the forehead.

"You, my friend, are a complete utter idiot." he said in a monotone.

"Thanks! I'm here all week!" Ichigo said cheekily.

Sighing, Toshiro got up, and stretched.

"Have you got any classes soon, Ichigo?"

"Yeah, I've got Zanjutsu. You?" Ichigo replied.

"I've got Healing Kido..." Toshiro replied.

"Well, have fun with that."

"I'll try." Toshiro replied, sarcasm dripping from his voice.

Laughing to himself, Ichigo gave Toshiro a quick farewell, before taking off in Shunpo.

* * *

_**15 minutes later...**_

"Good afternoon class! I am your Zanjutsu teacher, Senshi. I am going to teach you the main skills a Shinigami relies on. How to effectively take on a hollow, and if need be, other Shinigami." Senshi said. Senshi had brown, shoulder length hair. He wore a long, navy blue cloak, and a lightweight set of armor. The armour itself was a deep crimson colour, and had a few dents in it.

"Okay, first, I'm going to teach you about footwork. You need to make sure that you don't lean backwards, as this means that you will be knocked off balance a lot easier. If you lean too far to either side, you will end up being knocked over. You need to try to keep your centre of gravity as central as possible, and occasionally shifting it if the circumstances require it." Senshi said.

"I want each of you to go into your version of a basic stance, and I'll correct you as I go along the line. Go! Line up, and go into a stance." The class quickly organised themselves into a long, dishevelled line. Ichigo had landed himself near the middle of the line, so he had a decent amount of time to make adjustments to his stance, trying to perfect it.

A few minutes pass, with Senshi calling out people's mistakes and improving their stance for them. Finally, he reached Ichigo. Senshi studied Ichigo for a minute, and said.

"You're leaning slightly too far back, but apart from that, you're good to go."

Ichigo was slightly taken aback by this. How'd he manage to get a near perfect stance on his first attempt? It must just be natural instinct. Senshi continued to make his way up the line, pointing out flaws and ways to improve. Ichigo couldn't shake the fact that his attempt was nearly perfect. Sure, there's such a thing as beginner's luck and instinct, but he hadn't had any training... Shrugging his shoulders, Ichigo noticed that Senshi had just finished adjusting the stance of the boy at the end of the line. From what Ichigo could hear, the boy had been leaning forward too much, and Senshi had kicked the boy's feet from under him to illustrate his point. Senshi walked calmly to infront of the class, and started instructing them on how to hold their Asauchi.

"Okay class! First, I want you to hold the sword with your dominant hand just under the guard, and place your other hand on the pommel. With your non-dominant hand, grip the pommel tightly so that you don't lose grip of your sword." Senshi said, watching as the class started to follow his instructions.

"Now, I want you to hold the sword so that the pommel is just slightly higher than your belly, and point the sword at where your opponent would be. This is the basic Academy stance, and it is what you are going to be using until you start developing your own individual style!"

Ichigo himself, wasn't too happy about the way he was holding his sword. It just felt... off. Dismissing it, Ichigo started paying more attention the Senshi.

"Now, I am going to teach you some basic attacks. I stress, basic. First, I want you to remember a few things. Do not attempt to strike with your dominant hand. Your dominant hand is used for guiding your sword. You always strike with your non-dominant hand. Now, I want you to collect a training dummy, and set it up at a safe distance from anybody else." Senshi instructed.

Following his instructions, the class each collected a training dummy, and set them up.

"Okay class! On my mark, I want you to strike the training dummy! Ready... strike!" Senshi barked.

**_Wham!_**

"Strike!"

_**Wham!**_

This training continued on for about 30 minutes, with Senshi correcting the pupils occasionally. Finally, he gathered the class back together.

"Okay, that was a really good session. I notice that a few of you are overextending, which would give your opponent the chance to knock you off balance, and strike a fatal blow. I have also noticed, that we have a bit of a prodigy in this class." Senshi said.

"You! The boy with the ridiculous orange hair! What's your name?"

Ignoring the jab at his hair colour, Ichigo replied.

"Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Well, Mr Kurosaki, I can see already that you are going to be good at Zanjutsu. There are hardly any flaws in your stance, and you strike with great vigour! I look forward to teaching you, as well as the rest of the class. Class dismissed!" Senshi said with a wave of his hand.

The class started to turn around, walking towards the exit of the hall they were practising in.

"And don't forget to put away the dummies!" Senshi barked.

A collective sigh rose from the class.

* * *

**A/N: And there we go! Ichigo has a hidden talent at Zanjutsu, and I have dropped a few hints as to why that is. It's really simple to figure out, and I dropped a not-so-obvious hint about Ichigo. Have fun looking for them! :P**

****I know that we haven't been seeing much of Toshiro in this chapter, so I decided to do a small omake for you guys! Enjoy!****

* * *

"GET THIS ACCURSED CREATURE OFF OF ME!"

With this, Ichigo burst out laughing. The look of horror on Toshiro's face was a sight that Ichigo wouldn't forget for a long time. Whilst Toshiro was dealing with his... 'predicament', Ichigo took the time to study their room properly.

The light cream walls gave off a sense of calm, and gave the room a peaceful atmosphere. There was two beds on the adjacent walls, both looking like they had been hastily made. Next to each of the beds, was a small, wooden dresser, where both boys kept their uniform and public clothes. There was a full length mirror hanging from a hook on the inside of the door. Hanging from the end of each of the beds, was a sheath were they kept their Asuachi when they weren't being used.

Turning around again, Ichigo looked at Toshiro. Toshiro had apparently given up fighting with the cat, and it had taken residence on Toshiro's lap.

"Ichigo!" Toshiro hissed quietly.

"Having fun?" Ichigo said teasingly.

"It's sleeping on me! Sleeping!"

Chuckling to himself, Ichigo sat down next to Toshiro and started to stroke the cat. Waking up, the cat saw Ichigo stroking it, and rubbed it's head against Ichigo's hand in an affectionate manner.

"Hey there little guy...GAH!"

Toshiro looked around to see Ichigo holding his bleeding hand, and the cat licking it's paws.

"The little bitch just attacked me!"

"Well, maybe you shouldn't insinuate that it's a male then!" Toshiro said, chuckling at Ichigo's misfortune.

"Oh, that's just great, isn't it?" Ichigo said, sarcasm dripping from his voice, and into a small puddle on the floor.

"God Ichigo, you're doing well, aren't you?" Toshiro said.

"Grrr..." Ichigo growled, getting up to his feet so that he could go to his next class.

"Ichigo, watch ou-"

_**CRASH!**_

"Oh, BLOODY HELL! I TRIPPED ON MY SARCASM!"

* * *

**A/N: And that's all from me now. **

**Thanks for reading, and please leave a review. Make sure to follow and favourite the story!**

**TheDarknessIncarnate, signing out.**


	5. A Strange Surprise

**A/N: Hello guys, and welcome back to Darkness! (That sounds quite dramatic xD) Usually, I would do the review replies, but first I want to ask something.**

**In the Shikai release, what is the relevance of the command? For example, "Awaken, Beni****hime!" In this case, what is the need for "Awaken"?**

**This is what I think. I think that the release command is to signify what the wielder would do in a worst case scenario. This makes sense with some more than others. **

**For example, "Reduce all creation to ash". This one is easy to explain. Yamamoto would simply 'Reduce all creation to ash' if it came to it. Some are more difficult to explain. For this example, I will use Rukia's release command, "Dance". Dancing could be another way of saying "fighting", which would make a lot more sense. Another example that is slightly difficult to explain, is Renji's release command, "Roar". Maybe this one suggests that Renji would try to scare away any threats? **

**If anyone could give me an explanation for the release commands and what they signify, could you please let me know in a review? Thanks in advance.**

**Finally, here are the review replies:**

**hornet07: Haha, you got one of the hints. As I have said, the other hint is extremely subtle, and Haha_Titan only got in when I pointed it out to him. I also must thank you. After I got your review about the lack of description, I re-read over my chapters. I have to admit, they're not that great, and are somewhat lacking in description. So, I am going to try to add a lot more description, and I thank you for letting me know about it. I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**rowan1025: Thanks, and hopefully we'll be seeing more of Toshiro soon!**

**LeroyallenXnaruto: Thank you, and I'm trying my best. Hopefully you can see that in some of the chapters!**

**Daedricdragon: Thank you! :)**

**Scarease: Okay, I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

**Can I also point out that this story has just reached 1000 views! That's a crazy amount considering the amount of time that this story has been on fanfiction, so thanks to everyone who has read it!**

**Also, how did people find the Omake?**

**The song for this chapter is Watercolour, by Pendulum.**

**As usual, this chapter was beta'd by my friend Haha_Titan!**

* * *

Skyscrapers. Lots of skyscrapers. That was the first sight that Ichigo found himself looking at when he opened his eyes. The last thing he remembered was putting away his dummy, and some idiot hit him upside the head by mistake. Looking around, Ichigo noticed something slightly odd.

"Wait, I'm on the side of the building." Ichigo observed.

"WAIT! I'M ON THE SIDE OF A BLOODY BUILDING!" he screamed in a feminine manner. Suddenly, a tall man appeared. He was wearing a long cloak that billowed in the wind. He had long, dark hair. It was a very dark brown colour, with hints of lighter brown running through it. He was also slightly unshaven, and wore a pair of brown sunglasses. His dark, piercing eyes stared into Ichigo's. Then, his mouth started moving with no sounds coming out.

"What? I can't hear you!" Ichigo said to him. With that, the man started to frown, before shaking his head. His mouth started to move again. Disappointment shone in his eyes for a brief minute, before he promptly vanished.

"What the hell was that about?" Ichigo thought to himself, just before he passed out.

* * *

Sitting on a pole, Zangetsu surveyed the mass of skyscrapers in front of him. The large buildings were constantly changing, but only slightly. They would change heights occasionally, but Zangetsu didn't know the reason why. Suddenly, a small wave of reiatsu pulsed through the skyscrapers.

"Finally..." Zangetsu muttered to himself. Standing up, he quickly vanished, heading in the direction that the source of reiatsu came from.

Coming to a stop before his wielder, Zangetsu studied him carefully. He had ridiculous, bright orange hair, and it looked like he was slightly confused. Suddenly, the boy yelled.

"WAIT! I'M ON THE SIDE OF A BLOODY BUILDING!"

"Hello, I'm glad to meet you Ichigo. I assume you know want to know my name. I am your Zanpakuto Spirit."

"What? I can't hear you!" Ichigo said. Zangetsu frowned at this, and shook his head.

"You can't hear me, can you Ichigo?" Ichigo just looked at Zangetsu blankly. Disappointed at this unfortunate turn of events, Zangetsu vanished again, and reappeared on the pole he was previously sitting on. After a few seconds, Zangetsu felt Ichigo's reiatsu disappearing. Shaking his head once more, Zangetsu continued to observe the skyscrapers...

* * *

Waking up, Ichigo opened his eyes to see a really bright light. Hissing at the suddenly bright room, Ichigo opened his eyes again, albeit more slowly. Once his eyes were fully open, Ichigo sat up and surveyed the room. The white walls gave of a calming atmosphere, and there were different types of flowers in vases scattered around the room. Suddenly, a nurse walked through the door and saw that Ichigo was awake.

"Oh, hello Mr Kurosaki" the nurse said, "My name is Hāto."

"Hey Hāto." Ichigo said, somewhat politely.

"You must be wondering how you got here. After you were hit on the head, the student that left you here said that you fell unconscious. You had a very mild concussion, but I was highly surprised that it wasn't any worse." Hāto said

"I must just be lucky." Ichigo said with a small smirk.

"Apparently so, Mr Kurosaki." the nurse said with a slight chuckle. After hearing that, Ichigo tried to get up, but was hit by a large wave of dizziness.

"Whoa, I never knew that the roof had a rainbow on it..." Ichigo muttered, before passing out again.

* * *

Waking up for the second time, Ichigo noticed that nothing had really changed, except for the absence of a certain rainbow. Being careful this time, Ichigo got up more slowly, careful not to make himself dizzy again. Groaning, Ichigo sat up fully, and noticed a small button next to his bed. It just said "Assistance" on it.

"Oh, hello conveniently placed button." Ichigo said to it. Stretching over so that he could reach the button, Ichigo pushed it. Ichigo expected to hear a bell or something, but nothing happened. Suddenly, Hāto burst into the room.

"Are you alright Mr Kurosaki?" she said loudly.

"Yeah, I'm feeling fine now." Ichigo said as he swinged his legs off of the bed.

"Mr Kurosaki! Please be careful! You might still be unwell!" Hāto said, concern evident in her voice.

"Meh, I'll be fine." Ichigo said, somewhat carelessly.

"If you're not careful, you could injure yourself!" Hāto said, hesitant to let Ichigo leave.

"Hāto, I'll be fine. Thanks you." Ichigo said.

"Okay Ichigo. Please be careful." Hāto replied.

"I will." Ichigo said casually, waving his hand in the air. Getting down from the bed, Ichigo glanced over to see Hāto still looking at him in concern. Throwing her a confident smirk, Ichigo stretched, before walking out of the door.

* * *

_**A few hours later...**_

"Hello again boys!" Supīdo said as Toshiro and Ichigo walked towards him. As usual, the sun was shining on the lush green trees, which send large shadows across the clearing.

"Hey." Ichigo replied, as Toshiro nodded his head in greeting.

"Okay boys, this is who I want you to meet." Supīdo said as he gestured towards a small, black cat.

"You want us to meet a cat?" Toshiro said dubiously.

"Hey... I recognise that cat..." Ichigo said, voicing his thoughts.

"Oh yeah, he, I mean she, was in our room with us the other day." Toshiro said, nodding.

"Hello boys..." said someone in a very masculine voice.

"Huh!? Who said that?" Ichigo said in bewilderment, looking around the clearing.

"I did." said... the cat?

"WHAT THE HELL?! THAT CAT JUST TALKED!" Ichigo yelled in astonishment, as Toshiro jaw hung open.

"Oh, well done. You want a medal or something?" the cat said sarcastically.

"Boys, this is Yoruichi." Supīdo said, ignoring the bickering.

"Seriously? You got us here to meet a talking cat? Bloody hell, I must still be dreaming. Toshiro! Punch me!" Ichigo suddenly demanded. Not one to miss out on a good opportunity, Toshiro clocked Ichigo in the arm.

"Gah! That hurt! Which also means I'm not dreaming!" Ichigo said, clutching his now throbbing arm.

"Well, you asked for it." Toshiro pointed it out, smiling at Ichigo's antics. Yoruichi and Supīdo continued to observe the two boys bickering.

"I can't believe these are the two boys I was with the other day." Yoruichi said with a sweatdrop.

"Yeah, I know." Supīdo replied, with a small facepalm.

"BOYS!" Supido suddenly yelled, before gesturing towards Yoruichi.

"Okay, the pair of you. Get your ass in gear. I'm going to give you a simple task. Keep up. We're going to my training area." Yoruichi said, before taking off in a burst of speed.

"Gah! Wait for us!" Ichigo yelled, before disappearing in a burst of Shunpo. Toshiro just shook his head, before following Ichigo's lead.

* * *

Running through the streets, Yoruichi glanced behind her to see Ichigo and Toshiro just managing to keep pace with her. Deciding to challenge them a bit more, Yoruichi increased her speed. Behind her, she heard Ichigo say.

"How...the hell...can a cat...be so...bloody fast?"

This made Yoruichi chuckle slightly, which was quite an impressive feat for a cat. The ruined buildings blurred around her, as Yoruichi continued to build up speed. Suddenly, she took a left turn at a small, dark alley. She turned around again, to see Toshiro and Ichigo just catching the turn. Somewhat impressed by both of the boys, Yoruichi took off again with the boys following behind her. Suddenly, they burst out into a large forest area. Coming to a stop, Yoruichi looked behind her to see Ichigo bending over, panting heavily, whilst Toshiro had collapsed onto the floor.

"Okay, well done boys! Now, let's get training!" Yoruichi said enthusiastically.

"Ugh, can't...you give...us a...bit...of a...break?" Ichigo said between pants.

"Fine. You've got 5 minutes." she replied, slightly annoyed at the boys lack of stamina.

"Thank...you." Ichigo said, before he collapsed beside Toshiro.

_**Five minutes pass...**_

"Okay boys, let's go!" Yoruichi said. Both boys gave a small sigh, before getting to their feet.

"So, what'll we be doing?" Ichigo asked her.

"Well, we're going to be playing tag. It's the usual rules, but be warned: I'm not going to go easy on you." Yoruichi said cheekily.

"Ugh, okay then." Ichigo said, doing some stretches.

"But first, I'm going to need to change..." Yoruichi said mischievously, before being consumed by a puff of smoke.

"What do you-AH! WHAT THE FU-PUT SOME GOD-DAMN CLOTHES ON!"

* * *

**A/N: And there we go. I know that nothing really happens in this chapter, and is a bit of a filler. So, I apologise for that. I also have some news.**

**I have got exams pretty soon, so I'm going to have a lot less time writing this story. My exams finish 26th of May, so I probably won't be posting any chapters until after that. **

**NOTE: I AM NOT ABANDONING THIS STORY!**

**This is probably going to be the last chapter until then, so to make it up to you, I'm going to post a very short preview of the next chapter. So, please enjoy, and I'll see you in a month! **

* * *

There was a mass of pupils around the large, ornate gates that gave way to the only entrance to the school grounds. All of them, bar one, were trying to see someone. The school had received news of a Hollow attack in one of the districts, and a Lieutenant was coming to give them a talk on Hollows once the Hollow has been dealt with. However, one person wasn't interested in the Lieutenant. Ichigo was more worried about Toshiro. Toshiro had been visiting his grandmother, who lived in the same district that the Hollow attacked. Suddenly, Ichigo got tired of waiting. He took of in a burst of Shunpo, ignoring the cries of some of the pupils and a teacher.

He had to find Toshiro...

* * *

**A/N: I hope that's got you excited for next chapter, and some of you will probably figure out what is going to happen.  
**

**That's all from me, cya!**

**TheDarknessIncarnate, signing off.**


	6. A Wild Hollow Appears

**A/N: Hello everyone! I may have lied. I'm deciding to post this chapter, so that you have an extra something to enjoy whilst I'm away. I know that this chapter is a lot longer than usual, but I think that it's a form of compensation. I hope you all enjoy this chapter, and here are the review replies:**

**purpleswan: And you're welcome! :P I hope you enjoy this chapter.**

**LeroyallenXnaruto: I am going to try and gradually increase the length of the chapters, but longer chapters will mean that there is a longer wait.**

**Daedricdragon: Haha, thank you. Even though it's not really a break, but thanks nonetheless!**

**Scarease: Thank you, and I hope they're gonna go well.**

**xXM201Xx: I'm gonna go through this chapter by chapter so that it a lot easier to read:**

**CHAPTER 1: Thank you! In this story, 16 years would have passed. Masaki and Ichigo died at the same time, with a few minutes separating them. So, both of them would be 160 years old in Society, but Ichigo still refers to Masaki as "Mum", due to the age difference in the Human World, and the fact that Masaki was Ichigo's mother.**

**CHAPTER 3: I wasn't actually aware that there was a Bleach Wiki, so thank you for pointing that out. I'll be sure to use that for future reference!**

**CHAPTER 4: Haha, the nickname just came to me as I was writing the chapter, and I wanted someone to point out how absurd Ichigo's hair actually looks xD Thanks for the reviews!**

**Guest: Thanks for the review, and to answer your question: Yes, Ichigo will have a release command. What is it? You'll find out in a while. :P**

**I'm going to ask this again, but does anyone know the reason for the release commands? If you don't have any idea what I'm talking about, take a look at my A/N last chapter.**

**The song for this chapter is: Too Late, by Major Look.**

**And yet again, this chapter was beta'd by Haha_Titan!**

**So, that's all from me. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

**_A few months have passed..._**

Ichigo was sitting in his room, and nothing had really changed. Ichigo however, is completely different. Ichigo's spiky orange hair had grown significantly, and now reached his shoulders. His clothing hadn't changed, but he now wears his Asauchi permanently in a sheath on his hip. Suddenly, Supīdo burst into his room.

"Ichigo! Get up! There's a Lieutenant coming to the Academy!" he yelled.

"Huh? Why is there a Lieutenant coming here?" Ichigo asked him, ruffling his orange hair.

"There was a Hollow attack in one of the districts, and a Lieutenant is coming to give a detailed talk about Hollows!" Supīdo said happily. Ichigo however, visibly tensed up. "What's wrong Ichigo?"

"Nothing. What district was it?" Ichigo said, urgency in his voice.

"Erm... I think it was either the first or second district in the West Rukongai. Why?" Supīdo said.

"Nothing." Ichigo said, before taking off in a flash of Shunpo.

"Ugh, kids these days... No patience at all." Supīdo said, before he too, took off in a burst of Shunpo.

* * *

There was a mass of pupils around the large, ornate gates that gave way to the only entrance to the school grounds. All of them, bar one, were trying to see someone. The school had received news of a Hollow attack in one of the districts, and a Lieutenant was coming to give them a talk on Hollows once the Hollow has been dealt with. However, one person wasn't interested in the Lieutenant. Ichigo was more worried about Toshiro. Toshiro had been visiting his grandmother, who lived in the same district that the Hollow attacked. Suddenly, Ichigo got tired of waiting. He took of in a burst of Shunpo, ignoring the cries of some of the pupils and a teacher.

He had to find Toshiro...

* * *

Charging through the streets, Ichigo reached out with his reiatsu to try and find Toshiro. Whilst his reiatsu control had improved dramatically, he still wasn't as good as he should be. Well, that's what happens when you have large amounts of reiatsu. Suddenly, Ichigo felt a pulse of Toshiro's reiatsu. Changing direction, Ichigo tried to get every ounce of speed possible to reach Toshiro.

"I'm coming for you Toshiro..." Ichigo said aloud.

* * *

Darting across the street, Toshiro looked over at the Hollow. He'd manage to give it a few minor wounds, but nothing that was causing a significant amount of pain to it. Charging towards the Hollow, Toshiro gave a battle cry. The Hollow swung out an arm, and caught Toshiro as he leapt into the air. The Hollow drew back its arm, and threw Toshiro at the wall of a building. Due to the amount of force that the Hollow put behind the throw, Toshiro left an imprint of his body in the wall. The Hollow gave a loud roar as Toshiro fell to the ground.

_"Toshiro..." _a voice said.

"Huh? Who said that?" Toshiro said weakly, on the verge of fainting.

"_We must speak..." _the voice said, as Toshiro fell unconscious.

* * *

Toshiro awoke to see a large pla, with lots of snow lying on the ground, and a fierce, cold wind was blowing. There was also a light mist covering the area.

"Where am I?" Toshiro said aloud.

"_You're in your Inner World." _the voice said, as the mist parted. In the gap, there was a massive, white, ancient-looking dragon. The dragon had large scales that covered the majority of its body, and there was a clear sign of muscles being present. The dragon was truly amazing.

"Gah! Who are you?" Toshiro asked in shock.

"_I am your Zanpakuto Spirit._" the dragon said, as it shook its entire body. Shards of ice and snow flew off, as the dragons muscles rippled under its skin.

"No... It's too soon." Toshiro said in disbelief. "Wait, are you the voice I've been hearing?"

"_Oh, so you could hear me..._" the dragon trailed off. "_Now, onto more pressing matters. You are not going to survive this Hollow attack Toshiro. Not unless you call my name..._"

"How? I don't know your name!" Toshiro cried, as he closed his eyes from the bitter wind.

"_Do you want to protect people? Do you want to stop people from suffering? If so, call my name!_" the dragon said loudly, as Toshiro's eyes snapped open.

"Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens, Hyōrinmaru!"

* * *

Ichigo was charging as fast as he could towards Toshiro's reiatsu, but suddenly, it begun to fluctuate. Turning a corner at high speed, Ichigo could see a Hollow at the end of the street. And to the side, was the limp form of Toshiro.

"Toshiro!" Ichigo yelled in worry. "I'm coming for you!"

Suddenly, Toshiro gradually got to his feet, eyes closed, and held out his sword.

"What the hell are you doing, Toshiro?" Ichigo thought to himself.

Suddenly, Toshiro's eyes snapped open, and his voice rang out.

"Sit Upon the Frozen Heavens, Hyōrinmaru!" Toshiro's reiatsu began increasing violently, and the immediate vicinity began to grow extremely cold. Water and ice began to flow from the hilt of Toshiro's sword, which had changed dramatically. The sword had changed into a medium length katana, with a crescent-shaped blade that had a chain connecting it to the hilt. With a small cry, Toshiro slashed his sword down violently, and a huge wave of ice erupted from the tip of the blade. As it flew through the air, it took the form of a large Chinese dragon, made purely from ice and water. Red, piercing eyes gave the dragon it's vision, and as it continued to fly towards the Hollow, it gave a roar that easily outclassed the Hollow's. The Hollow gave a roar, in hope of intimidating the dragon, but the dragon continued on it's path.

"The hell...?" Ichigo looked on in astonishment as the large dragon crashed into the Hollow's mask, sending the Hollow flying backwards. Suddenly, Ichigo felt a large reiatsu signature coming towards him, but it was still quite a distance away. Ichigo felt Toshiro's reiatsu fluctuate again, before he vanished, and promptly appeared before the Hollow, swinging his sword in a downward arc. The blade cut through the Hollow's mask like it was butter, and Toshiro landed on the ground in a shower of blood. Ichigo's mouth was wide open at this point, and Toshiro looked over to Ichigo.

"There we go Ichigo... I protected you. That's what friends are for, right?" Toshiro said tiredly, before passing out, as his blade reverted into it's sealed form; a standard length katana.

"Toshiro!" Ichigo cried after collecting himself, but before he could move, the reiatsu signature from before came to a halt beside him. Turning to his right, Ichigo was greeted by the sight of a Shinigami, and by the feel of his reiatsu, a strong one at that. The Shinigami had dark brown hair which went down to his shoulders. He wore the standard Shinigami uniform, and had his sword in a sheath which rested on his hip. From what Ichigo could see, the sword had an intricate pattern on the hilt, which continued onto it's sheath. He seemed to radiate a cool atmosphere, and was acting very casual about the turn of events that had occured.

"Hello young man. You're friend is a tough one, isn't he?" the man said, twiddling his hair between his fingers.

"Oh, yeah, he is..." Ichigo trailed off, not really sure what he should say.

"Oh, where are my manners? The name's Yūgana Senshi, and I'm the 4th Seat of the 5th Division. How ya doing, kid?" Yūgana said, playing with his long hair.

"Erm... I'm fine..." Ichigo said awkwardly.

"That's good. Well, we better grab your friend." Yūgana said casually, before taking off in a burst of Shunpo. He reappeared next to Toshiro's prone form, before picking him up and slinging him across his shoulder. "Come on kid, follow me."

With that, Yūgana took off in another burst of Shunpo, with Ichigo following close on his heels, concerned about the welfare of his friend.

* * *

**_A few minutes later..._**

Arriving at a large building, Yūgana looked around to see Ichigo coming to a stop behind him, panting slightly.

"You okay kid?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine." Ichigo said, his breathing becoming more regular. "Where are we?"

"Oh, right. I forget you're still in the Academy. We're at the 4th Division barracks; the main place for healing."

"Oh, okay... Wait, how do you know I'm still in the Academy?" Ichigo asked, slightly suspicious of the man in front of him.

"Easy. Both you and your friend are still wearing Academy Uniforms, and you have an Asauchi. I assume that your friend did too, but he's apparently awakened his Shikai. How he's managed that at such a young age, I don't know." Yūgana said, yawning slightly.

"Alright then..." Ichigo said, before seeing someone running toward him and Yūgana.

"Oh, hello Isane." Yūgana said to the women that was approaching them.

"Hello Yūgana, has something happened?" Isane said, worry evident in her voice.

"Yeah, this fella here." said Yūgana, gesturing to the form of Toshiro on his shoulder. "He's got quite bad reiatsu exhaustion, and is unconscious at present."

"How did he get in such a state?" Isane asked as she took the unconscious form of Toshiro from Yūgana.

"When I arrived, this boy had just managed to awaken his Shikai, and used it to deal with the Hollow attack that was reported recently. It seems that he used too much reiatsu when using it, and I brought him here as soon as I could." Yūgana explained.

"Okay, thank you for bringing this to my attention Yūgana" Isane said, giving him a kind smile, before walking away, dragging the prone form of Toshiro with her.

"No problem!" Yūgana called after her. "Now, young man, you need to get back to the Academy."

"But, what about Toshiro?" Ichigo said with a worried tone.

"He's in good hands. Now, run along to the Academy, and try to stay out of trouble." said Yūgana with a small smirk.

"Okay, will do." Ichigo replied, still hesitant to leave Toshiro. Seeing this, Yūgana said.

"Go, before I knock you out and take you to the Academy myself."

Hearing this, Ichigo took off in a blaze of Shunpo, leaving a small pile of dust in the air. Shaking his head, Yūgana though to himself.

"Aizen's going to be interested in these two..."

* * *

**_Back at the Academy..._**

"Hello everybody! My name is Kaien Shiba, and I am the Lieutenant of the 13th Division. How is everyone doing today?" the man, known as Kaien said. He received various responses from the assembled crowd, mostly positive.

"Well, I'm hear to give you all a talk about Hollows. As you will have heard, there is currently a Hollow on the loose, so this is why I was chosen to educate you all on the nature of Hollows, and how they actually fight." Kaien explained.

"Why are you not hunting the Hollow?" a random student cried out, drawing a few nods from people in the crowd.

"The Hollow isn't at a level that could cause any lasting damage, so a few officers have been dispatched to take care of it." Kaien said, frowning at the student's insinuation. Anyway, here's is an introduction on Hollows. Hollows are former Pluses, who have succumbed to the despair and regret in their hearts. The Pluses turn into Hollows, because their Chain of Fate has corroded away. Once their Chain of Fate has completely vanished, a hole will appear where the Chain of Fate was. This hole signifies that the Plus has lost it's heart, and that it has became a full Hollow." Kaien explained to the class.

"Once a soul becomes a Hollow, it is driven by an eternal hunger for other souls, living or dead, to try and fill the whole that used to be their heart. While their obsession with finding souls is small at first, the vast majority of Hollows become like mindless beasts, searching endlessly for souls that they can eat..." Kaien trailed off...

"They mainly use Cero to attack, but often resort to using their claws, and tail if they have one. A Cero is like an extremely potent Kido spell. It can easily destroy thing's around it, and it can seriously injure a Shinigami if they aren't prepared. The best way for a Shinigami to deal with a Cero is to completely avoid it, unless you are Lieutenant or above in rank. There are a few people who could get hit by a Cero and survive who aren't any of those ranks, but it is still recommended for people to avoid a Cero, even if you are at a high rank. The easiest way for a Shinigami to deal with a Hollow, is to damage it's limbs, and as it is recovering, try to cut into it's mask. It is the most sensitive part of the Hollow's body, so it's obvious that you should aim there to get a finishing blow. Is there any questions so far?" Kaien asked, after the extremely long explanation.

"Are they any similarities between Shinigami and Hollows?" a student asked.

"Yes, but despite common belief, Hollow's are just like us. They're souls. Just like us. It's just our job to help them out, and get them back into the reincarnation cycle."

"Thank you Lieutenant Shiba. Does anyone else have any other questions?" Supido said to the assembled class.

"Is there different types of Hollow?" another student asked.

"Yes, there are different types of Hollow. One of the main types is Menos. There are three types of Menos, Gillian, Adjuchas, and Vasto Lorde. I won't go into a lot of detail, but Gillian are basically foot-soldiers, Adjuchas usually lead the Gillian into battle, and Vasto Lorde are extremely rare. They have a human-like appearance." Kaien explained.

Suddenly, Ichigo burst through the door of the room, looking slightly tired.

"Ichigo Kurosaki! What the hell did you think you were doing! You know perfectly well not to leave the school grounds when there is a Hollow on the loose, but you ignored that rule! Why did you think that you had the authority to leave the school grounds without permission?" Supido said to him in a terse tone, obviously suppressing his anger.

"I was going after Toshiro." Ichigo said with a defiant look on his face.

"Excuse me for a minute, but why on earth do you look so similar to me?" Kaien said.

"Hey, don't blame me. Blame the parents." Ichigo said dismissively, waving his hand. Kaien looked at Ichigo like he was an idiot, but Ichigo ignored the look and started talking again.

"I know that you're gonna say that I was stupid etcetera, but I was worried about him. Anyway, when I got to where Toshiro was, he was already facing the Hollow. He hadn't done much to it, but suddenly it attacked him, knocking him unconscious." Ichigo explained.

"What? Is he okay?" Supido said, slightly worried about the welfare of one of his favourite students.

"Well, he's at the 4th Division getting treated, but he managed to take down the Hollow."

"What? How the hell did he manage that?" Lieutenant Shiba said in shock. Ichigo turned to face the man he resembled, and looking him in the eyes, Ichigo said loudly so that all of the people assembled could hear him.

"He's got a Shikai."

* * *

You could have heard a pin drop. It was absolutely silent, except the occasional sounds of movement. The group assembled were all processing what they had just heard, and Kaien was the first person to react.

"Impossible." he said simply. "There's so way in hell he's managed to get a Shikai. You must be mistaken."

"Are you doubting me?" Ichigo said, anger creeping it's way into his voice.

"Yes, I am doubting you." Kaien said, looking down his nose at Ichigo.

"I am telling you for a fact. Toshiro unlocked his Shikai." Ichigo said as the assembled group burst into quiet whispering, talking about what they had just heard.

"Is there anyone else who can back you up?" Kaien asked, obviously doubtful about what he was hearing.

"Yes, Yūgana...something. And there was a healer too... I think her name was Isane?" Ichigo said, trying to remember the names.

"Okay, I will talk to them a soon as possible. Everyone! Stay here! I will get information on this matter, and I'll be back as soon as I can!" Kaien exclaimed, before taking off in a flash of Shunpo.

* * *

**_A little time later..._**

The room had grown into a noisy mess, as pupils and teachers alike were talking to each in loud voices about Toshiro. Nobody could believe that he had attained a Shikai. He was at a young age, and even some officers didn't have a Shikai. Yet, an Academy student had managed to unlock his during his time of need. It was unheard of. Nobody in the history of Soul Academy had unlocked their Shikai during their stay. Sure, there has been a few exceptional students, but for someone to unlock their Shikai was ridiculous. Only one person in the room wasn't talking to anyone. Ichigo.

Suddenly, the door burst open, and Kaien walked in, covered in a small sheen of sweat. Everyone in the room stopped talking, and stared at Kaien expectantly. Everyone except Ichigo, who looked at Kaien with a small smirk on his face. Kaien noticed this, before sending a small glare at Ichigo.

"It seems that Mr Kurosaki was correct." Kaien said simply. With that, the room burst into chatter, louder than ever. Kaien walked over the Ichigo, making sure not to bump into anyone.

"Kurosaki. It looks like I owe you an apology." Kaien said tersely.

"Meh, no problem." Ichigo said waving his hand. Kaien sweatdropped at this.

"If you don't mind me asking, do you remember the release command for Toshiro's blade?" Kaien asked curiously.

"I think it was something like 'Reign over the Frozen Heavens' or something like that." Ichigo said.

"You think? That helps me." Kaien said in a monotone.

"Hey, I was trying to pick up my jaw from the floor, so I wasn't really paying any attention to what Toshiro actually said." Ichigo said, somewhat sheepishly.

"Oh well, it can't be helped." Kaien said as he turned to walk away. "But Ichigo, I _am _sorry about that misunderstanding."

"As I said, no problem Mr Lieutenant." Ichigo replied cheekily. Shaking his head at Ichigo's antics, Kaien announced to the people assembled before him.

"I have to depart now, as I have to speak to my Captain about what has happened today. I hope to see some of you in the future, and I hope you all enjoy your time at the Academy. Goodbye everyone."

"Goodbye Lieutenant Shiba, and thank you for talking to us!" Supido said, before starting a round of applause. The rest of the crowd followed suit, and Kaien walked away, but not before throwing Ichigo a smirk.

"Okay everyone!" Supido announced to the crowd. "You can all leave now! Thank you for coming along!" With that being said, the assembled crowd started to file out of the doors, talking to each other about all of the events that had happened today. One topic was the most dominant in the chatter. Toshiro's Shikai. As Ichigo was about to leave the room, he was dragged to the side by Supido.

"Oh, you're not getting away just yet Ichigo. Do you really expect me to have forgotten about you leaving the grounds?" he said.

"Well, I was kinda hoping you had..." Ichigo trailed off.

"Good try young man, but we need to think of a punishment for you." Supido said.

"Oh, wonderful." Ichigo said dryly.

"I know! You are going to participate in a day long training course with Yoruichi!" Supido said happily. Hearing this, Ichigo's mouth hung open.

"What? No! Please! Anything but that!" Ichigo said, remembering his last day-long training session...

* * *

_Flashback..._

"Okay, Ichigo! Let's go!" Yoruichi said, to the prone form of Ichigo. Hearing a small sigh, Yoruichi yelled at him.

"Oi! Get up, Ichigo! Actually, you look quite comfortable down there... I might come and join you..." Yoruichi said teasingly. Moving so fast that Yoruichi had trouble seeing him move, Ichigo was on his feet in an instant.

"Oh, I see that you're up... What, don't you won't me to join you?" Yoruichi said, trying to tease Ichigo again.

"No! I didn't!" Yoruichi's face fell at that. "No! I never meant it like that..." Ichigo said, lowering his head in shame. Suddenly, he felt a foot connected with his chest. Flying backwards at quite an impressive speed, Ichigo could see Yoruichi smirking at him.

"What did I tell you Ichigo? Never let your guard down!"

* * *

"Well, you deserve it Ichigo. It'll teach you to follow the rules! Though, I do have to say, I did feel bad for you. Those bruises were there for weeks..." Supido trailed off.

"And you're gonna give me them back!" Ichigo yelled with a hurt tone of voice.

"Well, you deserve it." Supido said smugly.

"Gah, I hate you so much, ya know that?" Ichigo replied.

"Yup! And I don't care! Have fun Ichigo!" Supido said to him cheekily.

"No! Please don't leave me with her! PLEASE!" Ichigo cried. His only reply was a small pile of dust that had been kicked up by Supido.

"God-damn it! I hate you Supido!"

* * *

**A/N: And there we go! My final chapter since my exams (I promise this time :P)! I've gotta say, I'm quite happy with this chapter. However, it was my first fight scene, so I'm not too sure on how good that is... Also, as I have said in the A/N above, I made this chapter a lot longer than usual to make up for the long wait until the next chapter. I am probably going to make the chapters roughly 2.5k, maybe 3k in length. **

**I only have one more thing to say here: I've made an attempt at creating a cover for this story. I'm not particularly happy with it, so if anyone is willing to make me a cover, please let me know. Of course, you will be credited for it at the top of every chapter.**

**Thanks for reading, and please leave a review, and follow or favourite the story if you've enjoyed it!**

**TheDarknessIncarnate, signing off.**


	7. Waking Up

**A/N: Hello everyone! I accidently posted the wrong thing there, so here's the proper chapter! Here are the review replies:**

Antex: I'm going to go through this chapter by chapter :)

CHAPTER 1: Thank you!

CHAPTER 2: I try my best to write down characters well, as there can't be a story without them! :P

CHAPTER 3: I'm actually quite glad that nobody has objected to Yoruichi's presence. Thanks!

CHAPTER 4: Now, that would be telling. But yes, you're close.

CHAPTER 5: Yeah, I know! It's really fun to write her scenes.

CHAPTER 6: Yup, he does. How he helps, is another story. One that will be answered later in the story :P

Guest, Mr Turtle: I have plans for Ichigo unlocking his Shikai, so you'll just have to wait and see :P

KageAkuma5020: I actually have the divisions etc sorted out for Ichigo and Toshiro. Toshiro is fairly obvious, but I would be surprised if any guessed Ichigo's future division. I am going to feature Rangiku in this story later, but it won't be until Toshiro is in his division. Also (this goes for everyone by the way), don't be afraid to ask questions, not matter how silly you think they are. Just a warning though, you may get a silly answer for a silly question :P

The song for this chapter is Just You and Me, by Downplay.

Yet again, this chapter was beta'd by Haha_Titan. Thank you!

* * *

"Oh, Ichigo... Did you not learn anything from last time?" Yoruichi said to an unhappy Ichigo. She was wearing her usual outfit; a backless, black undershirt, with an orange over-shirt, which had 2 bright white straps on each shoulder. She wore a large beige sash around her waist, and black stretch pants, with brown shoes.

"Yeah, I learned not to annoy you, and to not let me guard down!" Ichigo said as he tripped up Yoruichi, who promptly fell on her behind.

"Ugh, that was uncalled for! Unless you wanted me to be on the floor for you..." she said slyly, winking at Ichigo, who blushed. As she rose to her feet, she could see a confident smirk present on Ichigo's face. "Oh, you're on carrot top!"

"Carrot top?" Ichigo thought aloud. "Well, it's better than something like fire head. Or fire crotch..." Ichigo trailed off with a shudder.

Yoruichi quickly darted over to where Ichigo was standing, and launched a quick right hook at Ichigo's face. His expression quickly became panicked. He ducked under Yoruichi's punch, and retaliated with a jab of his own. Just as it was about to connect, Yoruichi disappeared in a burst of Shunpo. Through instinct alone, Ichigo ducked under the vicious punch that Yoruichi had launched at the back of Ichigo's head. Before Yoruichi could react, Ichigo had launched an elbow at her, which connected with her chest. Letting out a small grunt, Yoruichi vanished again, and appeared a small distance away, obviously creating space between herself and Ichigo.

"Oh, that was hard." Yoruichi commented with a playful grin on her face. Ichigo promptly face-palmed at the double entendre. "Now, time to get serious..." Yoruichi said, all hints of playfulness vanishing from her features.

Yoruichi disappeared in another burst of Shunpo, and launched a brutal kick to the back of Ichigo's head. Having no time to react, Ichigo's eyes widened as Yoruichi's foot connected with his head. Due to the sheer amount of force that Yoruichi had put behind the kick, Ichigo's face quickly became friends with the ground.

"Whoops." Yoruichi said sheepishly, flipping her hair. "Sorry carrot-top!"

Getting to his feet shakily, Ichigo head a very faint sound, like chuckling, in his head.

"I must be going crazy..." Ichigo thought aloud, shaking his head to clear the sound. "Right, round two!" he yelled, as he charged towards Yoruichi.

* * *

_A few hours later..._

Picking himself up from the floor, Ichigo gave a loud groan of pain. He was sporting a lot of bruises, scratches, and had large lump on the back of his head.

"Okay, I give up! I'm done!" Ichigo said painfully to Yoruichi, who, apart from a few scratches, looked completely fine.

"Ugh, finally! I was getting bored." Yoruichi said with a playful grin, which earned a small growl from Ichigo. "Right, come on! Let's get you to the Academy's nurse. You're a mess!"

"What? No! I'm fine!" Ichigo replied stubbornly.

"Okay, Ichigo. I'm gonna apologise in advance, even though I shouldn't." Yoruichi said, before walking over to Ichigo, and pressing herself onto him.

"Yoruichi, what are y-Gah!" Ichigo said, before Yoruichi pressed her... 'assets' into his arm. Ichigo promptly fainted and fell onto the floor, due to a sudden amount of blood leaving his body through his nose. Shaking her head, Yoruichi picked Ichigo up from the floor, and put Ichigo on her shoulder.

"Okay, let's go Ichigo..." she said to the unconscious form of Ichigo, before leaving the area in a flash of Shunpo...

* * *

_A few minutes pass..._

"What's happened to him this time?" Hāto said with a small sigh.

"Exhaustion, and blood loss." Yoruichi said simply, but smirked slightly.

"Okay, I'll keep an eye on him..." Hāto said, before taking Ichigo from Yoruichi. Taking this as a chance to leave, Yoruichi disappeared in a flash of Shunpo. She wanted to go and see one of her favourite students: Toshiro.

* * *

_In Toshiro's Inner World..._

"How was I supposed to know that I'd exhaust myself? Not only that, you told me to release you!" Toshiro said to Hyorinaru.

"_I know that Toshiro... but you could have tried to restrain yourself..._" Hyorinmaru pointed out to Toshiro, who was sitting in the large icy plains that was his Inner World. It was currently quite peaceful, snowing lightly, and a crisp wind was blowing through the area.

"Yeah, I guess so..." Toshiro replied with a hint of sadness in his voice.

"_Please don't be disappointed Toshiro... It was your first time wielding me, and you done a fine job._" Hyorinmaru pointed out to the young boy.

"Thank you Hyorinmaru..." said Toshiro, and a comfortable silence descended upon them. Both of the inhabitants of the world were thinking along the same lines. How do we improve? Suddenly, Hyorinmaru's looked up into the sky, and said to Toshiro.

"_It looks like you've got yourself a visitor..._"

"What? Well, it was nice talking to you Hyorinmaru. I'll be sure to return here soon." Toshiro said to the large dragon.

"_Thank you Toshiro. I'll be sure to talk to you soon as well._" Nodding his head, Toshiro started concentrating on how to get out of his Inner World. He remained there for a few minutes, before he looked at Hyorinmaru sheepishly.

"How do I get out of here?" he said to the large dragon.

"_Oh, I forgot to tell you about that._" said Hyorinmaru, "_Basically, just focus on the place you where before you entered here. Then, try to imagine that you are creating a bridge from between your mind and your body. Assuming you are focused enough, your mind will reject you from your Inner World. If that doesn't work, I can always forcefully remove you..."_

"Okay, thank you." Toshiro said, as he began to follow the instructions that Hyorinmaru had given him. Concentrating, Toshiro focused, and suddenly, he woke up in his body, panting slightly.

* * *

_In Toshiro's Hospital Room..._

Yoruichu walked into the room that the nurse had directed her to, to see Toshiro sitting upright on the bed, panting.

"Yo, Toshiro!" Yoruichi said happily.

"What do you want Yoruichi?" said Toshiro coldly.

"Huh? What's up with you?" Yoruichi said, confused. Meanwhile, Toshiro was having an internal debate with Hyorinmaru.

"_Why are you acting like this?_" Hyorinmaru said, just as confused as Yoruichi.

"She wasn't there to help me." Toshiro said stubbornly.

"_Of course she wasn't Toshiro. She can't be in a hundred places at once_".

"Still, no-one helped me. Even Ichigo just stood and watched!" Toshiro said angrily, his hands screwing up into fists.

"_Toshiro, I think you're acting unreasonable, but I'm not going to force you to do anything. I think you should give them another shot..._" Hyorinmaru said, trying to get Toshiro to listen to him.

"I'll see Hyorinmaru, but don't expect anything." said Toshiro, as he started to focus on the person standing at the door. Said person was looking at him, a confused look on her face.

"Toshiro! What is wrong with you?" she asked, concerned.

"Nothing." Toshiro said, as he started stretching.

"You sure? You're acting weird..." Yoruichi said, still confused. As Yoruichi went to sit down on the chair next to Toshiro, Toshiro quickly said to her.

"No! I want to be alone. Go away." Making a face at Toshiro, Yoruichi did as he asked, and walked out of the room. Closing the door behind her, she started thing about why Toshiro could be acting funny.

"Maybe his reiatsu is still low, and it's making his head funny... No, that can't be it. His reiatsu is nearly back to what it should be..." Yoruichi continued to think about Toshiro, suddenly noticing that she was outside.

"I might as well go and see if Ichigo is awake yet..." she said, voicing her thoughts. Disappearing in a flash of Shunpo, she headed towards the Academy.

* * *

_Ichigo's Hospital Room_

Looking around the room, Ichigo noted that the room he was in was extremely boring. There was next to no decorations, and there was a bookshelf on the opposite wall. The walls themselves were a dark grey colour, and lacked any designs or patterns. It was just boring, and dull. Suddenly, the door opened. Looking over, Ichigo noticed that Yoruichi had walked into his room, but was sporting a confused look on her face.

"Hey Yoruichi, what's up?" Ichigo asked her, curious as to why she was looking so confused.

"Hi Ichigo, listen. It's about Toshiro..." Yoruichi trailed off, running her hands through her long, purple hair.

"Is he okay? What's wrong!" Ichigo said, panic evident in his voice. Shaking her head at the boy in front of her, Yoruichi gave a loud sigh.

"Okay, I'm gonna be honest with you Ichigo. Toshiro's different. There's something odd about him." she said simply.

"Different? Do you think his Shikai affected him?" Ichigo said, worried, as he began to get up from the bed.

"No Ichigo! Stay in bed, you might not have fully recovered. Anyway, I highly doubt that his Shikai would have affected his personality." Yoruichi replied, shaking her head. Taking Yoruichi's advice, Ichigo stopped moving, and settled back into bed. Rolling over so that he was facing her, Ichigo addressed the main problem.

"Then what's wrong with him?

"I don't know Ichigo. I really don't know..." Yoruichi replied in a sombre tone. This drew a small sigh from Ichigo, who started mulling things over in his head, with Yoruichi doing the same.

"Okay Ichigo, I'm not happy with how things have panned out, but I'm sure that Toshiro will confront us eventually..." Yoruichi said, as she moved to sit on the end of Ichigo's bed. "Wow, these beds are surprisingly comfortable..."

"Yeah, I know." Ichigo said, laughing at Yoruichi's comment, the atmosphere in the room lightening up slightly.

"Just out of curiosity Ichigo, have you made any progress in talking to your Zanpakuto?" Yoruichi asked.

"No...? I'm afraid not. Why are you asking?" Ichigo replied with a small shake of his head.

"I was just being curious. Toshiro obviously unlocked his, but I was wondering if you had made any progress. When I heard that Toshiro had actually obtained Shikai, I was extremely surprised. How often do you hear about an Academy student with a Shikai?" she said with a smile.

"Yeah, I know what you mean... Wait, how do you know what happened to Toshiro?" Ichigo said, confused.

"Well, you told me." she said, her smile developing into a smirk.

"What? No I never!" Ichigo pointed out.

"Well, not directly. When you made your grand entrance, and interrupted Lieutenant Shiba, I was in the room. Not only that, half of the Seireitei knows!"

"But you weren't in the room!" Ichigo said, still confused.

"Hmm? Yes I was. Sometimes, I love being a cat." she said to the confused boy.

"Cat? What do you me-Oh. Never mind." Ichigo said, sporting a sheepish grin.

"You have such a bad memory." Yoruichi teased.

"Shut up!" Ichigo said, grinning as he prodded Yoruichi in the back with his foot. Batting his foot away, Yoruichi let out a small laugh.

"Well, I better let you have some rest. Although, I could suggest something better to do..." she teased Ichigo, giving him a small wink. Ichigo flushed a deep crimson colour, before yelling at Yoruichi.

"GET OUT!"

* * *

**A/N: Hello everyone... I'm sure that I'm probably one of the last people that you'd expect to hear from after such a long time! I've got quite a few things to say here, so please stick around to the end of the author's note. If you don't want to, then feel free to skip it.**

**First of all, I'm extremely sorry for not updating Darkness in such a long time. After I finished my exams, I had a lot of schoolwork that I needed to do. After doing that, I had my summer break, and to be completely honest, I never even thought of updating this again. **

**Secondly, it was a reviewer that actually got me back into writing this. It was a reviewer called , who left a review quite recently. Despite it only being 2 words long (Which I found quite funny to be honest), it reminded me that despite there not being any updates, people may actually still be reading this. So, you can thank for me updating this.**

**Finally, thanks again for everyone who left reviews last chapter! It gives me a nice, fuzzy feeling reading these, so thanks to everyone who left a review! If you enjoyed this chapter, then please consider leaving a review, so I can bask in the warm fuzzy feeling again! :D**

**Seriously though, thank you!**

**Okay, that's all from me guys! See you all next time!**

**TheDarknessIncarnate, signing off.**


	8. Every Dream, begins with a Dreamer

**A/N: And hello again guys! Here's another chapter of Darkness for you all to (hopefully) enjoy! Even though I never received many reviews from last chapter, I'm still gonna keep updating! As for the reviews, I guess it can be expected, as I haven't updated in a long time. Anyway, enough of me babbling! Here are the review replies:**

**Antex - The Legendary Zoroark: Thanks a lot! It's great to see a familiar name on my reviews :P**

**RDouglas2209 - Thanks for the review! I hope this was 'asap' enough for you!**

**So, thanks to everyone that reviewed! **

**The song of inspiration for this chapter has a bit of a back-story behind it. I first heard this song earlier this year, on a YouTube video, and it was a team of people who had made a video to give their leader their best wishes, in his fight with cancer. He had been recently diagnosed with it, and his team wanted to wish him well, and this song was included in it. When listening to the song, the words really struck a chord with me, and it made me quite emotional. So, this is my message to the leader of that team. I hope you make a recovery, and I wish you luck in your battle, Haxx. So, without further ado, the song of inspiration for this chapter is:**

_**Family First, by Woe, Is Me.**_

**So, enough from me! Here's the chapter! **

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_In Ichigo's Mindscape..._

The first thing that Ichigo felt as he regained consciousness, was a pleasant, cool breeze caressing his jaw. The clear blue sky was reflecting off of the window he was sitting on. The rays of the harsh, bright sun momentarily blinded Ichigo as he opened his eyes, not used to the offending light. Sitting upright, Ichigo felt his bones popping, and shifting back into place. With his muscles groaning in protest, Ichigo got to his feet. Standing upright for a few seconds, Ichigo surveyed his surroundings with a sturdy gaze.

"I'm back here, again..." Ichigo mused to himself, "This must be my Inner World. The last time, I could have just been dreaming, but this confirms it. This is my Inner World... How does this reflect my soul though? Skyscrapers?" Ichigo thought, confused, as he remembered some of the lectures he had attended on meditating with Zanpakuto over the months that he had attended the Academy. A person's Inner World was supposed to reflect their soul, so how did skyscrapers work?

"What are skyscrapers supposed to show?" Ichigo wondered, "This is a reflection of my soul? And I'm supposed to talk to my Spirit in here? That's how I'm supposed to unlock my Shikai..."

Since Toshiro had awakened his own Zanpakuto, Ichigo had become a little obsessed with awakening his own. Despite knowing that Toshiro had only just awakened his, Ichigo felt that he had to keep up with him, so that he wouldn't end up getting surpassed. Even though he was mostly confined to bed, due to his rigorous training schedule with Yoruichi, Ichigo wanted to put as much time as possible into coming into contact with his Zanpakuto spirit. So, deciding to take advantage of his constant breaks from training (due to the pain he was in most of the time), Ichigo decided that he would start meditating more often. This was actually the first time that Ichigo had succeeded in arriving in his Inner World since the 'Toshiro incident'.

Glancing down at the window again, Ichigo noticed how his hair looked a lot darker for some reason. As he continued to examine his reflection, he noticed something at the corner of his eye. Whirling around, Ichigo's eyes darted around as he looked for whatever had caused the movement he had seen. With his eyes surveying his Inner World, Ichigo nearly missed the wispy, smoky look on the window adjacent to him.

Moving closer so that he could get a better look, Ichigo studied the smoky texture on the window. It seemed to swirl, and move in a seemingly random way. It didn't seem to have a predetermined path, instead choosing to go wherever it wanted to. Occasionally, a tiny flash of light would emerge from the smoke, before being immediately engulfed by it again. Almost as if the light was trying to escape from the smoke...

Just as he was about to turn away, Ichigo noticed that the smoke had begun to move, in a completely different way from before. Where before, it had moved randomly, it seemed to have suddenly gained a purpose. It started swirling in a circular motion, before stopping for a few seconds, then starting again. Each time it stopped, a small circle was forming in the middle of the smoke. Eventually, the circle had gotten so big, that Ichigo could probably fit his entire fist inside the gap. Staring at it with wide eyes, Ichigo could see words beginning to form. A couple of seconds passed, and Ichigo could finally make out the words that had formed on the window. On the window, the words, "Abandon your fear" were clearly visible.

Taken aback, Ichigo bolted upright, as his heart began to race.

"Abandon my fear?" Ichigo thought aloud, "What fear? I'm not scared of anything in here... Well, aside from the creepy, smoky writing." Ichigo thought to himself, as he looked back down at the writing. Much to his surprise, the words on the window had begun swirling again. The smoke had swallowed up the words, and the circle in the centre was starting to form. After a few seconds, Ichigo could make out words beginning to form. Squinting, Ichigo could just make out the words "Look forward." Feeling an uncontrollable urge, Ichigo stood up and looked straight ahead of him.

"What the hell is going on here..." Ichigo muttered, as he noticed the smoky substance leaking out of the window from the corner of his eye, and pooling in front of him. As he looked into the puddle of smoke, it started to swirl again. Already knowing what was about to happen, Ichigo waited. After a few seconds, the words had finished forming, "Move forward, and never stop." Feeling another uncontrollable urge, Ichigo began to walk forward. As he walked, Ichigo noticed the smoke was following him through his Inner World. Still walking, Ichigo glanced to his left to see the smoke floating in the air next to him, with a new message, "You'll age if you pull back." Breaking into a run, Ichigo's heart began to race even faster than before.

"What the hell is going on here?" Ichigo yelled out, aware that the smoke was still following him. The same message was being displayed, seeming as though it was haunting Ichigo. Breaking into a sprint, Ichigo felt the urge to look to his left again. Ignoring it, Ichigo's eyes widened even more as he noticed that he was quickly approaching the edge of the building he was on. There was another building a few metres away, which was possibly within jumping distance. At the speed Ichigo was running at, there was no way he'd be able to slow down quick enough, so he had no other choice. Pushing his body as fast as he could, Ichigo leaped towards the building.

Time slowed down, as Ichigo soared through the air. The wind pushed his bright orange hair backward, as he flew forward. Everything seemed to be moving in slow-motion, as Ichigo quickly came to the realisation that he wouldn't make it. Stretching his arms out in hope that he could reach the other side, his eyes widened in fear and shock. As if to spite him, time decided to speed up again, as he crashed into the side of the building, a bolt of pain shooting through his body.

As he plummeted into the void of his Inner World, Ichigo couldn't make out the words that the smoke was displaying. But much to his surprise, he heard a deep voice saying,

"You'll die if you hesitate."

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**A/N: Okay guys, I know that this is a really short chapter, but I felt that this chapter would lose its meaning if I added some more stuff into it. I wanted this one to be purely about Ichigo's Inner World, and some of the changes that I have decided to use.**

**Zangetsu's speech is a bit of a staple thing to have in a Bleach fanfiction, but I wanted to change how Ichigo first hears/witnesses it. I haven't seen anything like what I have done, so hopefully that's a unique idea! **

**So, thanks again for reading this chapter, and if you enjoyed it, then please leave a review! **

**If you're new to the story, then please consider following and/or favouriting the story!**

**Right guys, that's all from me!**

**TheDarknessIncarnate, signing off.**


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